The Queen and her Knight
by miszhatter
Summary: Of course, Anna knew it all along, the one thing she would never have was the one thing she wanted the most. [this isn't a HanabusaxOC, it's just from an OC's point of view]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Anna. Everything else belong to Hino-sensei.  
**

**Summary: Of course, Anna knew it all along, the one thing she would never have was the one thing she wanted the most. [this isn't a HanbusaxOC, it's just from an OC's point of view]**

**Characters: Anna (OC); Hanabusa Aidou; Kuran Yuuki**

**Pairing: HanabusaYuuki (because I always had this dream of seeing them together, as in_ together)_**

**Genre: Romance**

**Anime: Vampire Knight**

******Word Count: about 5000+ words**

**A/N: Errr.. well, hello there everyone. This would be my first time putting on my work here so I'm kind of nervous. Anyway, please tell me what you think about it. Thanks! Btw, this is NOT a HanabusaXOC. Though I used an OC's point of view. Please forgive any grammar mistakes, English is not my native language, but I've really tried not to make any mistake in that part because I also hate reading stories with so much grammar mistakes.**

**Additional A/N: I've edited this a li'l bit. Added a few details, stories are more likely the same. Just a tiny bit difference. Okay, I lied, I probably added 8 paragraphs or more. So if you want, you could read it again. Sorry. I was just, I wasn't satisfied with it at first. **

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**The Queen and her Knight**

Anna was dancing gracefully and happily when she felt her partner's arm stiffened around her then she felt his spine snapped in attention. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she saw him craned his neck sideways and stared at the entrance. She followed his gaze and saw a woman in a black dress with the shame shade of butterfly adorning her long dark brown hair. The woman stood regally in front of the door with only the attendant of Lord Izashi, the host of the party, offering to take her shawl. When the attendant bowed his head to her direction, the woman gave him a grateful smile. Acting as if he had bestowed her the greatest kindness, acted as if she wasn't that important to be welcomed like that.

Anna knew her behavior wasn't fake, but at least she could delude herself that if this woman wasn't perfect as it is, at least, she had a fighting chance. It was like life was playing her, once upon a time, everything around her was enough to sustain her and more, once upon a time, she didn't need to play this game of pretending, this game of deluding one's self. Now, it was all she did.

_Really, _Anna thought as she softly chuckled in self pity, _if there is God, He had one twisted sense of humor._

She almost had everything. She was of noble vampire lineage, though not a pureblood; she was a granddaughter of one. She was used to people flocking her like mindless sheep to their shepherd because of her exquisite beauty— her cobalt blue eyes that shone like jewels, her long black midnight hair, her timeless face akin to that of an angel and her impressive bone structure. Maybe if she had one fault to her appearance, it would be her chest, it never grew much during puberty but even within the vampire circle, her beauty was exceptional (though she had an obvious lack of chest), even now, wearing a blue satin long gown, she held half the men's attention and was satisfied with it. She had servants at her beck and call. She was engaged to the person she admired for almost a lifetime. Well, she had no real friends, but who needs them anyway? They were just superficial people to her and held no great importance.

Basically, she was happy with the way she led her life.

Yes, she almost had everything— Noble respected bloodline, vast richness, beauty and a very handsome fiancée.

But then, _almost_ had always been the operative word.

As she danced with her partner, she knew she no longer held his attention, with the way he automatically shifted his feet left and right and glided her away in the dance floor, one would think someone put him in auto-pilot mode. She exhaled tiredly and looked up at the face of the person who was so near, within reach, yet so far, far away.

Because the one thing that she didn't have was his heart. The one thing she craved the most. _God had one fucked up sense of humor._

Unexpectedly, the man let go of her hands. Another strike on her part. She thought that even though he was preoccupied, he would continue this pretense of dancing until the end of the song but she guessed wrong. She should have known better, she could never win against her. Even as a charade, this man would never put Anna's existence above this one person… or maybe that was wrong, with her finally in a place within his reach after three years of it being beyond him, Anna's and everyone's existence would fade away into the back ground.

She noticed that couples around them stopped dancing too and stood in attention to stare at the person in entrance. The orchestra stopped playing and everyone held their breath. There was a pin drop silence in the room that with her sharpened vampire senses, she could hear everyone's heartbeat. No one dared to move except one.

_This woman_, she thought bitterly as she felt him left her side to go to her. _Could even command time to hold its breath and stop if she would will for it to._

But before he went too far away, she reached for his sleeve. Maybe its instinct or her reflex, she didn't know but she held on to him. Suddenly afraid that once he left her side, he would never come back.

_Because I know that thought would come true._

"Hanabusa-sama…"

But really, she shouldn't have tried. Without even glancing back he took her hands gently off his white sleeve and continued moving forward. She saw him walked away from her in the middle of a crowd who didn't even noticed them as they too stared as if under an enchantment at the beautiful vampire now walking inside the dancing hall. She saw her glanced their way and stopped her gaze when it landed on him and she smiled softly.

When Hanabusa finally reached her, his eyes were searching her smiling face, Anna saw him raised his right hand maybe to touch her but put it down again, as if afraid that she was an illusion and if he so much as touch her, she would disappear.

_Maybe for him, he was still in one of his dreams._ Anna knew that because on the one time she took a glimpse of him in his study room, she saw him waking up abruptly from his sleep with his hands raised on the air, shouting her name. Needless to say, it was the last time Anna sneaked in his house to see him.

"I— I…" It was the first time she heard him stuttered. The crowd watched the scene unfolding in front of them, only half-believing what they were seeing: A beautiful vampire whose name was revered with respect and admiration and had a MIA status for the last three years was now on the hall and in front of her was the stuttering heir of the Aidou Clan who was called a genius.

Anna realized she had so much bitterness in her when the demon part of her resurfaced and taunted, _Where's the genius now?_

The woman raised her ungloved hand and touched Hanabusa's left cheek— caressing it. Hanabusa then covered her hand with his, closed his eyes and leaned to her touch. Smiling like after years of searching, at last, he reached his home. Finally, he breathed her name in mixture of awe, relief, longing, love and worship.

"Yuuki-sama…"

She saw her world tumbled down before her eyes as she heard that four-syllable word.

As if that was the magic word, the crowd came to their senses and knelt. She followed suit even with her heart breaking into pieces. They bowed their heads, paying respect to the last pureblood— the Vampire Queen, Yuuki Kuran.

_To be continued._

**This story would be a two-shot. I've already started the next chapter but I'll be posting it by next week. I have my exams and all so I'm really busy right now.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Anna. Everything else belong to Hino-sensei. :D**

**Summary: Of course, Anna knew it all along, the one thing she would never have was the one thing she wanted the most. [this isn't a HanbusaxOC, it's just from an OC's point of view]**

**Characters: Anna (OC); Hanabusa Aidou; Kuran Yuuki**

**Pairing: HanabusaYuuki (because I always had this dream of seeing them together, as in_ together)_**

**Genre: Romance**

**Anime: Vampire Knight**

**Word Count: about 5000+ words**

**A/N: here's the next and last chapter of this story. I hope you would enjoy this. Please forgive any grammar mistakes and tell me so I could correct them. **

**Addition A/N: I've edited this story for a bit, fine, for a lot. Might added a few paragraphs (might be 8 paragraphs as a whole) I'm so sorry for this. But it really needs to be edited.**

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Yuuki, after three years of being away from the vampire circle was now roaming around the hall, greeting everyone with a smile on her face. She was introduced to her earlier that night by Hanabusa and Anna realized that no matter how much she wanted to hate her, she couldn't. There was something in the vampire queen that commands adoration and respect and she was sure that wasn't just her being a pureblood. It was her and her genuine willingness to see the good in everyone.

_I should have just thought of her as a heartless tramp. It was easier that way in the past. _

But now, seeing her in flesh, within her sight, smiling, mingling and talking with everyone without prejudiced. She could hardly delude her herself into thinking it. The Vampire Queen was kind as she was beautiful.

_Maybe that was why a lot of men would die for her without any question, without any hesitation._

Sadly, in those count, the love of her existence was included.

Anna saw Yuuki laughed good-naturedly on one guest's comment then suddenly, Yuuki's stance swayed. In a blink of an eye, Hanabusa was by her side, holding her steady in his arms. During the party, he was always by her side, his gaze never leaving her.

"I'm sorry," she heard Yuuki say. "It seemed like I have to retire for the night, I haven't yet rested since I came back."

"Yuuki-sama, would you like to take a rest on one of the guest room?" Lord Izashi who came over immediately when he saw her swayed, asked in concern.

Yuuki smiled at the host but shook her head. "Thank you for the kind offer but I'll stay at my house. I have my carriage so there's no need for you bother on my account."

"This was no bother. But allow me to at least escort you to the door. Do you have any companion?"

"Yes, don't worry Lord Izashi. Thank you for inviting me to your party. It has been a wonderful night."

She saw the Lord preened with pride. "I wasn't sure you would come. I just sent the invitation to your home, hoping you'd have returned."

Once again, a genuine smile graced the pureblood's lips. "Thank you for remembering me."

"Yuuki-sama," Hanabusa interrupted. "I'm coming with you." He turned towards Lord Izashi. "If it's alright, I'll be the one accompanying her, Lord Izashi. Your guests still need your attention."

Lord Izashi smiled. "If that's the case, then I'll leave her in your care." He walked away.

Hanabusa turned his attention to the girl in his arms. "Let's go, Yuuki-sama."

She saw Yuuki frowned. "No. Aren't you here with Anna-san?"

At that question, Hanabusa looked at her. Still helping Yuuki to her feet, he walked towards her with great care.

"Anna," Hanabusa said when they reached her. "I'm sorry but could I leave you with my sisters? They will send you home, I have to accompany Yuuki-sama."

Yuuki's eyes were wide in panic. "Of course not! Aidou-senpai, you were the one who brought her here, be a gentleman and bring her home. I have a driver to accompany me. I don't need you to send me home."

"Yuuki-sama, I will accompany you. Who knows what would happen to you along the way, knowing your luck you would probably stumble on your way out here." Hanabusa's eyebrows were twitching as he stated his point.

Yuuki pouted. "I am not invalid!"

"You couldn't even stand without my help!" He argued.

And as if to disprove his point, Yuuki tried to get away from him but before she could even get one step, she stumbled forward. Hanabusa caught her before she made her personal greeting to the floor.

"See?" She could imagine the veins popping with the way he stated the single word. "Honestly, Yuuki-sama. Just let me go with you."

"No!" Yuuki protested. "You're not leaving Anna-san alone!"

"I'm not leaving her _alone_. My older sisters are here! "

Then like children, they started bickering. She smiled sadly at the scene before her. She'd never seen Hanabusa acted like this, not once in their two-year engagement. What she had witness was just a shell of him. Like a robot with a switch, he acted like the proper heir and fiancé. He never shouted at her like he was doing to Yuuki now. Never.

"It's alright, Yuuki-sama," she interrupted and the bickering pair stopped. "I'll find your sisters, Hanabusa-sama. Please send her home, she needs rest." And smiled.

"But— but.." Yuuki tried to protest.

"You heard her, now stop being difficult and let's go, honestly, after all the time this time, you are still as hardheaded as in the past." Hanabusa helped her steady her feet once again with an irritated tone, but his eyes were glowing with tenderness as he said those words. He looked at her one last time and with a sincere smile he said, "Thank you, Anna."

She was trying very hard to maintain her smile at that point but she still showed it to him. "You're welcome."

Yuuki looked at her before they departed and said mysteriously. "You are very kind," then she smiled as if she just didn't say something mind-boggling and walked away with her fiance.

She watched them until they reached the door and the attendant gave Yuuki's shawl then they disappeared into the night outside the mansion. Anna sighed when the whole thing was over. She noticed she'd have been doing that a lot this night. She prepared herself to find Hanabusa's sister when an idea entered her mind. It was a crazy idea, but it was an idea nonetheless.

She waited for five minutes to pass and then walked towards the door and with heels and in her gown, she ran and followed the scent of Hanabusa, it was heading west. She turned towards that direction and followed his scent as fast as she could, she was probably running a hundred miles an hour, she was almost like a blue blur in the semi-darkness. If some humans would see her, she would definitely be another horror story to be told.

After 10 minutes of running, she finally saw a carriage in front of huge mansion with a tall gate, she hid herself behind a tree nearby. It was too dark and with only two lamps by each of the side of the gate, she could make out the features of the house (thank God for superior senses!) but it was almost unimportant when she saw Hanabusa carrying the pureblood in his arms like a princess as they entered the mansion. She tried to tell herself that it didn't hurt.

When the pair went inside of the house, she waited for two minutes and slowly opened gate to avoid making a sound, she walked the distance from the gate to the mansion and then climbed the balcony. Or more like jumped into it.

"You're thirsty, right? That was why you nearly fainted," she heard Hanabusa's voice from the inside of the room. She tiptoed forward and sneaked a glanced inside and saw Hanabusa carrying Yuuki to her bed. The room was huge with only a single lampshade to light the whole thing. There was a bed in the corner; it had a huge canopy in blood red color, just like Yuuki's eyes. She could also see the table and chair beside it, there were several paintings hanging at the wall and the rest of the room was beautiful. Just like the vampire who owned it.

When Hanabusa placed her on the bed, he took off her shoes with practiced hands, as if he had done it a thousand times before. Maybe he did.

"Yeah," she heard her answer. "I haven't drink blood for three days."

"_Baka_," then Hanabusa sighed. "Where are your blood tablets?"

"I finished them all. I was in a long journey before coming here, with no vampire by side. I couldn't just snatch a human being and I really don't like drinking from strange vampires, they tend to be grabby with their hands so yes, I'm pretty thirsty right now."

She heard him sighed again. "Really, Yuuki-sama, what am I going to do with you?"

Yuuki chuckled. "Give me your blood tablets?"

"I didn't have them with me."

"Well, that's a shame then."

There was a long silence after that statement. The sound of breathing and the blowing of the wind were the only things that could be heard then out of nowhere there was a sound of clothing being discarded and the sight of Hanabusa loosening his tie greeted her. He adjusted Yuuki's position until his neck was in reach of Yuuki's lips.

"Drink," he whispered. If Anna thought that Yuuki would at least pause to reconsider, she was sorely mistaken. She saw her eyes turned to glowing red and then Yuuki lengthened her fangs and sank them on her fiancé's artery without any hesitation. She covered her mouth so that there wouldn't be any noise to escape but she felt something liquid came in contact with her gloved hands. Her tears were now flowing freely and she let them.

Hanabusa never let her drink his blood; he didn't even offer it to her once since their engagement. Come to think of it, he never drank her blood either. He chose to prey in humans and other vampires than to drink her blood.

It just showed that he didn't trust her enough. Trust her enough with his memories and his feelings and maybe the reason why he didn't drink from her was so he couldn't feel any guilt of being unable to do so.

Suddenly, her knees gave out but still, she continued to stare at the heartbreaking sight behind the glass window. She couldn't see Hanabusa's expression because his back was turned to her. For the past two years, she had grown accustomed to his back as it was what he mostly showed to her, he rarely even looked at her and when he did, his glacier blue eyes were either reserved or empty as if she wasn't there or he despised her existence like she was nothing but a golden cage that prevent his escape or a chain that kept him held against his will.

A bitter sob escaped her lips before she could prevent it. Yuuki's eyes snapped at her direction, maybe now that she drank blood, her heightened senses recovered and were once again alert but she managed to hide behind the wall before Yuuki saw her, making her presence still unknown.

She didn't dare snuck a peek for awhile, fearing her discovery. She heard Yuuki took a deep breath which indicated that she finished drinking. But her nature of curiosity made her leaned side ward to look again at them. Yuuki was now sitting at the bed with her feet hanging off it while Hanabusa was sitting on the floor with his head on Yuuki's lap. Yuuki raised her right hand to stroke his hair. To uninterested audience, the scene before her was peaceful and heartwarming; to her, it was nothing but tragic. But like a train crash, no matter how horrible it was, one couldn't take their eyes off it.

"Why did you left, Yuuki-sama?"

"I had to, Aidou-senpai. I needed to find myself."

Hanabusa clenched his fist on Yuuki's dress. "You could have found yourself here."

"I needed to be away from here. Away from familiar people, away from… the memories."

Hanabusa raised his head up. "You just needed to be away from Kiryuu Zero, we could have just sent that hunter away."

Yuuki chuckled. "We could never send him away from this place, Aidou-senpai. He has his duty here. And it's not just him, the council and the vampire hunter association too, I needed to get away from them. After Kaname-onii-sama died, I was the last pureblood vampire, they wanted to keep me safe. It… suffocated me, my freedom was taken away. I was treated like a precious glass figurine, so priceless and fragile that I needed to be kept under lock and key so no one could touch me."

"You could have taken us with you, Yuuki-sama!" Hanabusa stood up and paced around the room while Yuuki gazed at him calmly. "You know we would never make you feel that way. Akatsuki, Ruka, Ichijou-san, Shiki, Rima… me, we would have followed you anywhere but you left without us!"

Yuuki smiled at him and shook her head. "If I brought you all along, you would have treated me the same way. I doubt you would let me go out of my room without any of you to look after me. You would have suffocate me like the council had, and I would have hated you for it. I don't want that to happen, the last thing I want was to hate you, because all of you are my precious friends."

Hanabusa opened his mouth to answer back but closed it again, maybe realizing that what Yuuki had said was true and he couldn't offer anything to counter it.

Hanabusa stared at the floor and after a long silence he spoke up. "So that was why you left without us… that was why… you left without _me."_

Anna smiled sadly when she heard Hanabusa's statement. All along that was the question that has been haunting him for three years, it wasn't why Yuuki left, maybe he knew the reason all along, it wasn't even why she left without them, but it was why—why did Yuuki left without _him_.

Yuuki stood up from the bed and cross the distance between them then she hugged him, with her left cheek leaning against his chest and her hands making small circles on his back to comfort him. For a while, Hanabusa stood at the center of the room without making any movements, not even to return Yuuki's hug.

"I'm sorry for leaving but I had to do it." Yuuki whispered. "It was the only way. I needed to be alone." A soft chuckle could be heard before Yuuki continued, "I couldn't be exactly alone with you by my side, could I?"

After hearing those words, Hanabusa stopped being a statue and raised both of his arms and fiercely gathered the girl in front of him in his embrace. "Yuuki-sama… Yuuki-sama… Yuuki-sama…"

A scene that never crossed Anna's mind was now happening before her, never, not once did she ever imagine that Aidou Hanabusa would cry.

For a while the both of them embraced each other, with Yuuki comforting Hanabusa and Hanabusa repeating Yuuki's name like a mantra, never really believing that his Yuuki-sama was now there in his reality and no longer in his dreams.

When he calmed down, Hanabusa did something that would forever imprint in Anna's mind. He knelt and took Yuuki's hand with his own left hand and kissed it.

"Aidou-senpai!" Yuuki panicked. "Get up! What… what are you do—"

"Kuran Yuuki-sama," he interrupted her, his voice filled with determination and hope. "Let me serve you, I swear my loyalty to you and everything I have, my body, my soul, my heart…my life. Just let me stay… Just let me be by your side once again."

Yuuki stared at him with wide eyes, not really knowing what to say or do. She might be thinking that Hanabusa addled his brain. But she looked into his eyes and maybe saw something in there, she smiled slowly and squeezed Hanabusa's hand and replied, "Of course you can."

Anna thought everything she saw was enough. She slowly walked away from the window and jumped from the balcony. She landed gracefully at the ground then walked. She stared at the path ahead of her without seeing. She walked into a tree, the scene would have been funny if only someone saw her or if only she felt the pain. But no one did and she didn't feel it. She leaned into the tree and sat down, neverminding the dirt or her dress. She hugged her knees and stared at the darkness before her. Everything she saw and heard back there felt like nails being hammered to her coffin, everything confirmed her secret fears, her insecurities, that even in this lifetime or the next, she was nothing before the great Yuuki Kuran. But despite everything she'd been through her eyes had been dry since Hanabusa knelt.

She couldn't say she didn't saw that one coming, Hanabusa offering everything he had to Yuuki. She was his obsession, his sun, his goddess… his queen. Of course, he would forget that he was engaged to her. Who was Anna to him, really? Just another aristocratic vampire who happened to be his future wife. In the future, she would bear him his heir and smile at their guests, she would pretend that what they have was a perfect marriage but behind the close doors of their room they would act like perfect strangers who just happened to share a bed. Maybe she would be nothing but a replacement to Yuuki.

"Huh! Who am I kidding? I could never come close to her, how could I be a replacement? I would be nothing but a poor imitation. Someone like me could never be someone like her," she whispered to the night and buried her face on her knees.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder, she glanced up and saw Ichijou Takuma, Hanabusa's friend looking at her.

"Anna-san, you should go back to the party."

She stood up and brushed the dirt on her skirt. "Ichijou-sama, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he smiled at her. "But I have a feeling I already knew the answer to that," Ichijou then look at the house 10 meters away from their location.

She looked down and continued brushing the dirt on her skirt though it wasn't there anymore. She couldn't afford to see the pity in his eyes.

Anna heard him took a deep breath. "I'm sorry you had to see what you saw in there."

Startled, she looked at him. "You saw them too?"

"No. But," He glanced at her. "Judging by how lifeless you are, I think you just went through hell and you're not sure if you would make it back."

Anna's eyes couldn't even widen in shock anymore. Maybe she had enough surprises to last her a lifetime.

She smiled sadly. "I love him, you know. Since I was a child, since the first time I saw him walking behind Kaname-sama on a party. Back then, he was a child too but he was already walking like an adult, proudly, with his head held high and his back ramrod straight. Right there and then, I promised myself I would marry him and that no one could stop me."

She gazed at the only room with its light on. "Growing up, I never forgot that promise to myself. Though I never attended Cross Gakuen because I was studying in another country, I did everything in my parent's power to follow what was going on his life. I'm ashamed to admit I even paid some people to take information and pictures of him," she laughed bitterly. "I was almost like a stalker. The only difference was, I have the money to pay someone to do the stalking for me.

"Then suddenly, five years ago, the information about him stopped. They said he followed the Kuran purebloods on their journey and were rarely seen since then. I was heartbroken. I lost hope that I would ever see him again. I came back to Japan in my father's order and a year later, I was overjoyed, he returned to Cross Gakuen. '_I could see him again'_ I thought. But he was always by Yuuki-sama's side and I never had the courage to approach him.

"I dropped the idea of marrying him, telling myself that it was nothing but a childhood dream and those dreams would never come true. I stopped collecting information about him and for awhile it was okay. Then two years ago, my father brought the subject of marriage. He told me he signed an agreement with a friend of his. A marriage agreement. I never bothered to know who the hell I was going to marry, I lost my faith in love. I told myself, '_if it wasn't him, why would it matter?'_

"Imagine my shock when I saw Hanabusa-sama at the entrance of our home the day when I was supposedly meeting my future husband. I was ecstatic! It seemed like heaven granted my wish at last. But when I look into his eyes, I saw emptiness. Gone was the happy person I saw on those pictures years ago. He was just nothing but shell of his past self."

She inhaled the air around them. She never spoke that long but Ichijou-san didn't seem to mind at all, he continued to listen to her story.

He spoke up. "It was a year after Yuuki-chan left, I guess."

She nodded. "I researched of course, that was the one of the things I'm good at. Though I didn't actually find out the reason of his sudden change through it. I only found out that three years ago, Yuuki-sama left and no one knew where she went. I left the issue alone, I promised I would bring him back to his old self. I would make him so happy he would laugh again.

"But every time we meet, I still saw the same emptiness in his eyes. He looked at me as if he wasn't really seeing me, like I was a part of the wall or something. If he really did pay attention to me, his eyes were reserved and so were his actions. He danced with me when tradition dictated it, he took me to dinner whenever his parents insisted he would, he would visit me twice a month but that was it. Everything he did, he did it out of duty.

"And then the first time I visited his house, I didn't tell him. I wanted to surprise him. I asked the servant where he was and she told me he was on his study. When I was near I heard a noise, I opened the door slightly and I saw him twisting on his chair, I was about to enter the room but he woke up screaming 'Yuuki-sama!' with his hands clutching the air. He was dreaming of her, maybe he always was. I hurriedly closed the door, ran away then told the servant not to tell him I visited. That was the first and the last time I came to his house. I figured everything out of course, only an idiot would not put the clues together. She left him but she took his heart with her."

Ichijou sighed. "He was Yuuki-chan's bodyguard after everyone found out that she was a pureblood. He stayed by her side always, I think she spent more time with him than with Kaname because Kaname was always away. Aidou was her tutor, her guard, her friend, her companion rolled into one. When Kaname truly left, he was still there, protecting her. Then three years ago, she vanished. No one knew where she went, she just left a note that she needed to be away. Aidou looked for her everywhere, he even left the country but he never found her. When he finally returned from his fruitless search, he locked himself in his room and didn't come out for three days until Kain blasted the door and dragged him out," Ichijou smiled at the memory. Anna thought it must have been funny seeing the Aidou Clan's proud heir to be dragged out by his cousin.

This time it was her who sighed. "I told myself I wouldn't ask for anything as long as he would love me. I don't care if I don't have any friends, I don't care for the fame or the money or the prestige. Those things could go to hell and rot. I just want him to love me and nothing else. Even for awhile I deluded myself that he was starting to feel something for me, at least he would smile now if I did something that amused him.

"Then I saw him acted that way at the party, when she arrived, his eyes were drawn only to her, everyone else ceased to exist. When he leaned to her touch, it was like a watching a wanderer finally finding his place, his home. When he carried her, I thought it was like a fairy tale coming true to life, a prince carrying his princess to his castle," she laughed. Bitterly. "But then I saw her he knelt at her feet, I realized I—I was wrong, it wasn't like a prince and a princess. What I saw was a knight, swearing everything he has to his queen. It was a knight ready to slay dragons for his queen… It was a knight, utterly, hopelessly and unconditionally in love with his queen."

"Anna-san…" Ichijou placed his hand on her shoulders.

She shook her head. "I don't need pity, Ichijou-sama. I chose this path, I chose to delusion myself that one day he would finally see me and love me. There were plenty of ways to get out of this situation, I just chose not to. I guess, when you've seen the view from the top, you would never want to let it out of your sight."

It was time to let him go. "He wasn't meant for me, he never was. For two years I've been selfish, now I realized I could never have his heart. I have to accept that. Maybe I should start looking for friends, they seemed easier to obtain." Then she walked towards the gate but after a few moments she stopped and turned towards Ichijou who was still standing by the tree. She needed to know. She needed to know this before she let him go. For her own peace of mind.

"Ichijou-sama, I just want to ask something before I do this. Does she— does she love him?"

Ichijou turned his head towards the mansion and answered, "Who knows."

She laughed humorlessly at that because even just for the last time, heaven wouldn't give her a small piece of comfort.

"Really, God had one twisted sense of humor."

*****END*****

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**A/N: Thank you for reading! I'm sorry for some vague moments like how-the-hell-did-Ichijou-got-there-moment and his vague answer. So that was the end of this two-shots.(But due to this slight editing, I might, just_ might,_ add another chapter to clear some the vagueness at the end. But right now, this fic is complete... until I summoned some of the ideas from the deep recesses of my mind.)**


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